Contents

Week 1

Still not decided what kind of robo to make.

Week 2

Actually I am fascinated by the concept of a one legged hopping robot since its a challenging dynamics problem and a control problem at the same time. Though it has been proved that with careful design of dynamics and the model, control can be simple..ahh..lets see.

Week 3

Another week has started and now finally I think I am ready to build my system. The inspiration has come from the gait patterns and locomotion of a cockroach especially when the creature is dealing with obstacles with heights greater than its own. I dont know yet how far I can go with making this machine, but its an interesting problem. I have just started putting together the building blocks and simultaneous simulation for the parts and expect to put up some pictures soon.

Till then I would like to share some of the work done in Case Western Reserve University on this kind of robot, which I intend to build.

Prior to this I have been reading about the control and locomotion in cockroach, Blaberus discoidalis. Great piece of work done by Dr. Roy E. Ritzmann, Professor of Biology and Professor of Neurosciences.

Week 4

A productive week, I would say. I finalized the design and central structure of my Blaberus Drexcoidalis. Yes, thats what I call my cockroach based on blaberus discoidalis and I am sure I will come up with an interesting and easy name soon. Well, the latest update is that I have put together the nicest lego parts to complete my central structure and a chassis. It has a central drive with two motors, one for each side. Both the motors drive a set of gears which in turn will be used to drive a 3 spokes systems which will eventually serve as the legs of the cockroach. I had some issues with the gear settings initially because of few reasons. One, I was not sure whether having more gears i.e., a bigger drive set will be good for something which will have low ground clearance. Second, I was short of gears for my design (thanks to Mike who helped me out with this). Essentially I wanted to have a low-ground-clearance, longer structure in order to be closer to the real cockroach and to accommodate 6 legs(basically six 3-spoke set) and hence more gears.

The task for next week is to start modeling the assembly, for which I am going to use Pro-E. The design and material for the spokes which will serve as legs will be finalized also.

Below are fews pics of my machine I have taken recently.

Latest Updates (11/26/2006)

So, after a long period of inactivity on this page, I am to ready unleash the results of hard work and perseverance shown in last few weeks. All thanks to Pro-E and available 3D data. Numerous crashes, loss of data, comebacks and redos, I have completed my 3D model of the Blaberus Drexcoidalis. Below, you will find a sequence images showing the evolution of my 3D model followed by the final images of the robot in different orientations. This is as close I could get to the physical model. There are some variations mostly owing to the unavailability of some Lego parts in 3D format. This includes the motor, a shaft holder and a 16 teeth gear. All these parts have been replaced by there symmetric counter parts and thankfully the symmetry of the final model has been preserved.

Basically, the 3D model has superseded the physical model since I still have to figure out a way to attach the three-spoke leg assembly on to the shafts connected to the gears. I am hopeful to find out a way this week for sure. Also, animating the entire model for motion sequence remains a challenge. Both these tasks will be finished by the end of this week and hopefully the physical model and the 3D model will be ready for demo next week.